Get Organized - Calendars

Along with using Leonie Dawson's 2014 Create Your Amazing Year Calendars and Workbooks, I have implemented my own calendar system to keep my life organized and all of my due dates on track. Actually, this calendar system is one that I've used off and on over the years, but lately I've had so many new things popping up so that I've decided to renew my calendar program.

To start with, I keep copies of my calendar in my Amazing Year Workbook binder. I happened to already have a full year of monthly calendars printed out prior to starting Leonie's program. So, I just added these into my binder. I also have a large deskpad type of calendar (that I hang on the wall rather than putting it on my desk). 

January 2014

Before the start of every month, I take my large calendar and the next month's calendar from my binder, and I mark them all up. To get your calendar organized, you'll need:

• a large deskpad type calendar (I got mine at Staples, or maybe it was Office Max.)
• a set of highlighter markers
• a regular ball point pen
• monthly printed calendar pages for each month of the year

My Amazing Year binder, calendar, and supplies.

First, figure out what categories you need to include on your calendar. Second, assign a color to each category (sometimes I forget my colors and end up with new assignments each month! As long as you are consistent within the month, it's not a big deal.). My categories and colors are:

• orange - bills
• pink - job #1 (emergency department scribe)
• green - job #2 (tutoring and some child care)
• blue - freelance writing assignments
• purple - personal and family activities (so far nothing listed for February yet)

Once you've got categories and colors figured out, start filling in your calendars! I usually work on one category at a time so I don't mix up my color assignments:

My blank calendars with a few things that I filled in a few weeks ago.

All of my regular monthly bills (orange) filled in.

 

Adding in my scribe job shifts (pink).

Tutoring and childcare (green).

Freelance writing assignments (blue).

Once you've filled it all in, pop your small calendar back into your binder or planner, and rehang your big calendar on the wall. I carry my planner with me almost everywhere, and I keep the big calendar on the kitchen wall so I see it every single day.

Tame that e-mail inbox...

I cut the messages in my e-mail inbox from over 600 to only 128. 

I was overwhelmed with not only the amount of e-mail I was receiving, but also by how many emails were in my main inbox. I couldn't find specific messages easily when I needed them, and a chore that should take minutes every day was consuming an hour or more at times.

It kind of made me want to scream...

Can You Hear Me Yet by STILphotography on Etsy

Last week, I decided to tame my e-mail inbox. 

I started by doing the following:

• changed my spam filter settings;
• review the spam folder once weekly, instead of daily; and
• evaluated mailing lists I was subscribed to, and unsubscribed from any I wasn't excited to see in my inbox or that I hadn't used/read/looked at in at least a month—this alone cleared out a ton of e-mail!

After completing those three steps, I committed to focusing on individual topics each time I open my e-mail. For example, only dealing with personal correspondence or sorting through e-mails for deals/sales on shops/vendors I like, or focus only on work related e-mails. To make that manageable I did the following:

• I created subfolders for specific topics and sorted almost all of the messages I wanted or needed to keep into those subfolders.
• Examples of my subfolders: Amanda Genther**, Apartments, Financials, Freelance, Friend#1, Friend#2, Friend#3, Continuing Ed, Etsy/Half/Ebay, Leonie Dawson**, Michelle Ward**, Tutoring, Writing Submissions.
• I also have a few hidden folders for things I need to keep but don't need to look at very often.

Once or twice per day, I sort new messages into those folders WITHOUT READING the new messages unless they are urgent.

Then, when I have time to dedicate to ONE CATEGORY of messages, or one topic, I go through that folder ONLY. As I go through that one folder, I also decide what to take action on (save/keep, what to print and then delete (so I have a hardcopy only), what to forward, what to respond to, etc.) and then I DO THAT ACTION.

I've gone from obsessively checking my inbox to now only checking and sorting new messages once or twice per day (total: less than five minutes of my time), and tackling one folder every day or two (with time varying depending on my goals). Most days this simple task has freed up anywhere from an hour to three or four hours! (Seriously, I was spending that much time just on e-mail! Ridiculous!) 

I now have a lot more time every day for my son, our dogs, fun, and working on my own interests.

**These three ladies are solopreneur goddesses! I love them, and hope you will check them out!  (Please note, I do  have an affiliate relationship with Leonie Dawson, but even if you don't purchase anything from her, I really do encourage you to follow her because she has tons of wisdom to share!)